If elected, Senator John McCain (a four-time cancer survivor and, in case you hadn’t heard, a POW who survived extensive torture and lack of care for broken bones following crash in ‘Nam that still prevent him from raising his arms normally) would be the. Oldest. President. Ever. He makes the Founding Fathers look young. The average White Male American lives to 73.6 years old, and McCain (72 already) is anything but average—he may have a soft life these days, what with however many (seven) houses and a private jet, but with the torture, stress of political life, and four cancers the odds are he’d live through 1.6 years of a McCain Presidency means one thing: think seriously about Sarah Palin. President Sarah Palin. You like? She’s young, would be our first female president, she’s charming (if you go in for all the invective-with-a-smile stuff). Still, in a country where 80% of the electorate wants to go liberal, Mrs. Palin makes President Bush look moderate, VP Cheney look just average. She’d be happy to try and overturn Roe v Wade, she calls Global Warming’s effects a matter of conjecture, she takes taxpayer pork and then not only hides it in her napkin under the table, but brags about how she’s vegetarian.

But, then, Senator Barack Obama’s too young, right? Well, he’s older than President Clinton was in 1882 (though it could safely be said that Bill showed a bit of poor judgement in the libido department, at least).

And he’ll only get older in office—which, unlike McCain, isn’t cause for uneasiness. And if anything were to happen to Obama, who’s fit and lean and green, Senator Joe Biden’s a spry, experienced 62.

So, politics aside, If you’re comfortable with Palin, go for it. If you’re comfortable with Obama, you’re good. If, however, McCain is your ticket—you’re an independent uncomfortable with Palin—go blue, or you might wind up living in Karl Rove’s fantasyland.

Americans hate weakness? Is that why we’re too weak to biek or walk, gotta drive our SUVs two blocks? C’mon. This isn’t a football contest, Tom. This is our country’s future. Biden might have been a safe—dare I say conservative choice—in that he’s got experience, guts, knows how government works and is ready to be President (the first consideration for prospective VPs). But Palin showing strength? More like pandering—to the Religious Right, which up to last Wednesday wasn’t even supporting McCain’s campaign actively (calls to volunteer for McCain have gone from 20K a week to 800K since she was picked). McCain wanted Lieberman—but he didn’t dare show the strength of his convictions in the face of what surely would have ben an, ahem, unpleasant RNC.

I have to agree, this was a show of pandering in the highest degree. This was not a pick based on who was going to be the best VP, but a pick based on who could help McCain best win the election.

Palin was meant to do two things: One, solidify the evangelical christian base behind McCain’s ticket. Two, distract the media from Obama.

The people who are pulling the strings of John McCain knew that the media would want to dig in to Sarah Palin’s personal life, because no one knew anything about her. They were HOPING for a media firestorm so that the media would stop covering Obama’s every move. Because, you know what? The more you see him on TV, and the more of his ideas you hear, the more you want to vote for him.

The Republicans run campaigns based on the idea that the American people are stupid and that a majority of us do not care about the way our country is run. The Sarah Palin pick is absolutely indicative of this.

This had absolutely nothing to do with strength, it has everything to do with a carefully calculated pandering to our baser instincts.